Body acceptance and shaving?

01-17-2004, 09:05 PM

Hi All,

It's been awhile since I've posted (actually, it's been awhile since I've visited the site), but I was wondering...

I have been reading over several posts, and the topic of shaving (various locations) seems to be a popular one. My question is, for those that believe social nudism is a matter of body acceptance, why do so many find it necessary to shave? Wouldn't accepting the amount of body hair God gave you also be part of body acceptance?

It's been awhile since I've posted (actually, it's been awhile since I've visited the site), but I was wondering...

I have been reading over several posts, and the topic of shaving (various locations) seems to be a popular one. My question is, for those that believe social nudism is a matter of body acceptance, why do so many find it necessary to shave? Wouldn't accepting the amount of body hair God gave you also be part of body acceptance?

Just curious how those of you who shave view this.

-Ottergirl

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Yes, obviously for most shaving is not accepting your body for what it is. But also you could argue that guys should also all have moustaches and beards for the same reason, and women not shave their armpits and legs.
You either want hair where it grows, or you don't. It's just a matter of personal preference.
Also, hair grows back so whatever you do isn't forever - if you should ever have a change of heart. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

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Just an after thought....
the shaving topic sometimes triggers off a lot of heated debate. So be prepared for some fireworks.
To me, body acceptance is about accepting the body in unclothed form without shame, and needn't necessarily get overcomplicated by what we might choose to personally add or take away from what we have. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

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Body acceptance is not being ashamed of what you have. We modify many things according to personal tastes. Such as hairstyle or even the color of our house. We may workout for health and to try for that elusive "perfect" physique. As time passes our tastes may change, and we alter what we can to conform. It is perfectly natural for us to try to "improve" on those things which we can. Others may not approve, but they just have different tastes. In short, it's your body! Do what you want! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

P.S.: As naturists we are by nature nonconformist. Personally, I do things for my pleasure, not to please everybody else. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

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HI, We're both smoothies and Luv it. To us it's alot cleaner look and we both have been doing it since we were both old enough to grow hair. Even our kids don't mind us shaving. To us it's what the person wants to do and what they feel comphy doing. We have noticed tho that alot more are doing this now.

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If you can put your hands on books about the history of nudism, you will see that until recent years, most nudists did not shave their bodies for the very reason you gave.
There are a lot of us to this day who insist that shaving is not necessary to look good or look "clean".

I hope you don't feel any pressure to do one thing or the other.

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Bottom line: I just don't like being hairy. Being smooth and hair free makes me feel better both nude and (unfrotunately) clothed. My wife likes it too. I don't care what other people think about it, or that they are hairy. But I do tell them "try it, you'll like it." It's all about freedom and acceptance for ourselves and others.

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Say Nude in the North..is it really true what they say..."Big feet.. big....." not that size matters of course...just couldnt quite tell from the picture...maybe its the length of the hair?... [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Odb

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I have shaved myself a couple of times but it was long ago when I was a lad. The why is the interesting part.

I was an early developer. Puberty and the accompanying acne, hair and sex drive first hit me at 10. Within a couple years I looked like I was in high school.

I think the first time around it was because I didn't want to grow up. Most boys loved the development of body hair as it was a signal of physical maturity. I disliked the arrival of body hair for the very same reason. Childhood had been very rough and adolescence was getting even rougher.

And I hated the way the hair looked. I was an early developer and had hairy legs before anyone else. A smooth hairless body looked aesthetically more pleasing and very sexy. I wanted to look sexy to myself. After a while I decided that a small dense patch of pubic hair was even more sexy as long as it was the only body hair.

Of course a 12 year old who shaved could get away with it and look like a normal 12 year old. Bu I still only shaved a couple of times in the summer. A sudden change in the amount of body hair would be obvious in the locker room.

There was one boy who grew quite dense chest shoulder and back hair early in high school. He was also quite muscular so nobody said anything to his face but behind his back guys and girls called him names; gorilla, ape, shaggy, wolfman and so on. Seeing how they reacted to him reinforced my own feelings.

And to this day, that is the most popular image of the beautiful body. Hairless except for the scalp and a limited thatch of pubes, although a man can still be considered "sexy" with a beard as long as his chest and leg hair isn't too thick or grow on his shoulders or back.

The second fit of shaving took place when I was in my middle teens and no longer had a gymn class, so I had no reason to hide anything. Aside from liking the look and feeling sexy, the main reason was the additional sensations it provided for masturbation. Bare skin is vastly more sensitive and sensual than thick curly hair.

But that was a brief fling and I soon decided that I found girls to be more interesting than myself as a sexual partner, so I let it grow. If I did get lucky enough to "score", I figured being shaved would really wierd any girl out and I didn't want that. Fortunately it only takes a month to get a minimally "normal" looking growth back. (Kind of got to liking combing it out into a little afro.)

Since then I haven't bothered to go smooth. I've become more confident in my appearance and developed a broader sense of what is aesthetically pleasing. I have hairy legs, average pubes, some stomach hair and some on my chest and I am quite happy with it. A sexy body has more to do with how you carry yourself, your underlying musculature and your attitude than your body hair or your genitalia.

I did have my pubes trimmed into a heart shape and dyed florescent red for Valentines day once but that hardly counts. As I get older I find that my pubic hair is getting both thinner and grayer. I'm starting to miss having that thick, dark patch.

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I suppose my other post requesting advice on techniques for shaving ones back stirred up this thread. Like I said in the other message thread, I am a hair monster. I've lived with it most of my life but more so as I went through my 30's. And though I like the look of totally smooth, hairless skin, I don't think that's the route for me. I am happy with myself as a person and am very comfortable with my body image. But wanting to return to a happy medium prompted me to rid my back of its annoying outgrowth.

I like to think of shaving as "hair management." This extends to shaving my face every day and getting a hair cut every few weeks. As for the rest of my body I have chosen to shorten each region of hair to my own liking balanced against some acceptable convention for males, i.e. I don't shave my armpits or legs. My chest hair I've decided to trim slightly shorter than normal as well as my pubic hair. The back is either do it or don't do it (hard to trim short) so it is GONE!

I'm still experimenting with techniques (razors, trimmers and depilitories) and am homing in on a solution that works well and makes me feel good with my appearance. You may say that as a nudist those things shouldn't be important. Believe me, hair management is not at the top of my list of important things in life, but even as nudists we still function in a larger society and are judged (perhaps wrongly) by our appearance. Shaving a little here and there is fine folks and by-golly, I just love the feel of smooth skin for a change!

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Everybody changes their natural state of hair, even if it's just a hair styling or a beard trim.

A completely smooth body is uncommon. That's why it grabs so much attention. And grabbing attention is one of many reasons why some people do it. Just like why some people wear jewelry down there. It focuses the attention and makes a statement. (A completely smoothshaven, shiny bald head is a textiled analogy.)

During the Bay to Breakers, some of the nude participants are smooth. Spectators have been known to question whether or not the smoothies are suffering from some kind of dermatological disorder. You don't always know how your "statement" will be interpreted! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]